Hopping down the Bunny Trail

Easter this year was wonderful!  We celebrated all weekend long with both of our families.  On Saturday we spent the afternoon with my family which included a super yummy dinner and an Easter egg hunt!  Hattie was so into it this year and loved finding all of the colorful eggs.  It was so much fun watching her skinny legs run around as she was picking up as many eggs as possible. 

 On Sunday we woke bright and early to find that the Easter Bunny had left us all baskets!  Our baskets were filled with some pretty fun things including Mizuno running shoes for the Mrs. and a trip to Vegas for the Mr.  The girls received bows, books, frilly socks and learning cards.  Because this was Holden's first Easter she received her stuffed bunny as well.  We then got dressed and went to church with my mom and then headed up to see Mr. Pack's side of the family.  It just so happened to be Grandpa Lynn's birthday so we not only celebrated Easter but his birthday as well, with the tradition of Score Cake and all! Yum!

I don't know what it is about these two pictures of my Hattie girl, but I adore them.  I almost want to enlarge them and hang them somewhere!  She is such a beauty :)

The Giggle Book

Manhattan has always been very verbal and talked from a very young age.  It always amazes me the things that she comes up with!  She is absolutely hysterical and I die laughing at so many of the things she says and the way she interprets things.  I know that most mom's feel this way, and  recently I came across a cute idea on Pinterest (go figure) that is called the Giggle Book.  It's basically a notebook that you keep track of all the cute and funny things your kids say and then you can give it to them once they get married.  I just loved this idea because of late I have just been keeping a list of "Hattie Says" on random papers and they are bound to get lost if I don't create a giggle book for her!  Anyway here are some of the funnies I have written down so far that I don't want to forget:

Instead of something else: "I want a different else"

During Easter time: "Look at those eggs!  They are SOOO GORGEOUS!"

When I came in from planting flowers in grubby shorts and a t-shirt: "WHAT are you WEARING?!  That looks SILLY!  Find a different else!"  Apparently she was mortified!  Who have I created? Hahahaha!

When we went swimming for the first time this season: "I went swimming with Kaylee and Kennie and I got to wear a swimming soup." aka swimming suit

When deciding what to eat for breakfast: "Umm...I think I want fireweeks!" You know, as opposed to those mini wheats we all love, ha!

"Momma I want checkup with my nuggets." aka Ketchup

"Are we going to the swimming cools today?" aka swimming pools

"Momma I love Sean Pack (long pause...) I like daddy too."

When we were in Las Vegas she saw the Excalibur Castle:  "That is AMAZING!!! It's sooooo BEAUTIFUL!!! Can we go upstairs and see Rapunzel and Cinderella's bed?"  She truly was in awe :)

When she saw the Stratosphere: "Momma look!  It's a big candle!"

This little girl keeps up smiling and laughing everyday with her cuteness!  We love you so much Hattie girl!

Home Tours - Show us your Living Room

I've been on a bit of a blogging hiatus lately but today over at Kelly's Korner, Kelly is kicking off the blogger "Tour of Homes."  I'm kinda nosy and I LOVE to see how others decorate their homes and I figured I would join in on the fun!  If you are not a regular here at The Pack Clan (aka family, ha!) we live in Utah and love every minute of it!  We have been renting our Townhouse for 3 years now and unfortunately we cannot make any major changes. Hence the reason we have white walls, beige carpet and linoleum floors--can you say builders grade everything?! Ha!  Therefore I really like to decorate and hang things on the walls to cover up some of the not so prettiness.  I am by no means an interior designer, but I do enjoy making our home a cozy place for our family and friends.  Without further ado, here is our living room.  Enjoy :)

 This is the view from the couch

 I recently changed up this collage wall when I got the new 11x14 canvas of Holden. 

Mr. Pack is from Texas so I made a canvas in order to represent the Great State. Ha!

 The view walking in the front door

 The view from the dining room

 

 We LOVE this Expedit bookcase from Ikea.  

We actually have two and this one houses all of Hattie's toys

  

                                        Linking up here http://www.kellyskornerblog.com/

Mission Impossible: Operation Mailbox

When Holden was about a week and a half old I decided it was time for a quick outing.  If you know me I get a little stir crazy if I'm home too much and I really like to get outside.  I hadn't checked the mail since Holden was born and I knew there were some goodies waiting there for us (I may have ordered several things while in the hospital...those late night feedings get me every time!)  Because we live in a town home, the mailbox isn't right outside our door, instead it's about a block away.  So we usually just stroll on over and are home in about 5 minutes--no big deal right?  Wrong.  Apparently things take ten bazillion times longer than you ever thought they would once you have two kids in tow.

First I ran outside to the car to get the stroller out.  Holden was sound asleep when I went out and when I returned not 3 minutes later she was screaming bloody murder--dying of starvation of course.  So I brought the stroller inside and sat down to feed her.

She let me know that she was done by projectile vomiting all over the two of us. Awesome.  Of course now I had to get both of us changed before we could head out the door.  Once all clean I came downstairs to find Hattie rummaging through the pantry because she too had reached the point of starvation.  I had to then baggie up some snacks and water for her to take on the 5 minute journey we were about to embark. 

Once the snacks were prepared, it was now too cold for us to go out without jackets on.  So back upstairs we go to find something a little warmer to wear.  So...by the time I got Holden fed, myself and baby changed, jackets on, stroller set up, girls buckled in with snacks and water in hand it was an hour and a half later!  I didn't know whether to laugh or cry!  It truly felt like we would never make it out the door alive.  Luckily, we made it to the mailbox and back in one piece.  But, let's just say that a "quick trip" is no longer part of our vocabulary. Ha!

Luck of the Irish

Daddy's Good Luck Charm

Green milk with Lucky Charms

Lucky the Leprechaun surprised Hattie with a little treasure hunt.

 Too bad he was too quick and we couldn't catch him! Silly little fella!

Surprise!  St. Patrick's day outfits and money in our shoes!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Three Weeks Old

At three weeks old Holden started rolling over, took her first nap in the crib and took her first shopping trip Target (surprise, surprise) during which she slept the entire time, ha! :)

I'm a big kid now!

Since having Holden, I now see Hattie as so much more of a big girl! As she gets older she is losing so much of that "baby" in her and it's a very bittersweet thing for me.  I absolutely love watching her grow and learn but now it's only on occasion that I get a glimpse of that little newborn baby that made me become a mama.  Anyway, moving on... 

One thing that we wanted to accomplish before bringing a new baby home was to have her potty trained.  We started right after her 2nd birthday and she got it within about a month or so!  We couldn't be more proud of her and it was so nice to never have to experience two in diapers.  Potty training is definitely a challenge and there were some days I SOOOO just wanted to throw in the towel.  Something that really helped me was listening to this webinar--it really made all the difference!

 

Another milestone that Hattie has reached is sleeping in a big girl bed!  I was SUPER worried about this transition because she has never been a very good sleeper--she STILL wakes up during the night at least 3 times a week, usually around 2 or 3AM.  Oh yeah, did I mention that she's TWO? HA!  So needless to say, I thought for sure once she had more freedom and wasn't behind bars (ha!) that she would immediately come into our room and want to sleep in our bed.  I love her more than words but I just couldn't handle having her in our bed.  

After much anxiety over the whole thing, one night we just decided to try it and see what happened.  She was so cute and excited to sleep in her bed and that first night she didn't even wake up once!  Unfortunately it wasn't a trend.  She still wakes up but never once has she tried to come out of her room--she just cries out for mama from her bed, bless her heart.  And every time I still go in there and sing her back to sleep.  Good thing she's so darn sweet! Ha!  Really though, I know that I will look back on this time and miss it like crazy.  I love this little girl so much my heart could burst.

But, if any of y'all have any tips for getting a toddler to sleep through the night I'm all ears.  We've tried everything from giving her something to eat RIGHT before bed to Lavender oil on her feet.  I'm so used to it now that it doesn't really phase me much. I just figure that she'll catch up on all her sleep as a teenager, you know, sleeping in until Noon and all :)